This invention concerns a repeater that can be used, for example, with an entertainment device operated by multiple persons, and more particularly to a repeater having multiple operation terminal connections to which operation terminals are connected, multiple external memory device connections that are set to correspond to the operation terminal connections and to which external memory devices are connected, and a main body connection terminal to be connected to an electronic device main body, said repeater making communication possible between the connected operation terminals and external memory devices and the electronic device main body.
An electronic device such as an entertainment device for home use has heretofore been conventionally constructed in such a way that a controller or other operation terminal is connected to the main body of the device, and a memory card or other external memory device that stores various data concerning the operating environment of the operation terminal or the state of the game being played on the entertainment device is also connected to the main body of the device.
Meanwhile, in recent years, in order to allow multiple persons to play a game simultaneously, devices have become known in which, without directly connecting an operation terminal to the entertainment device main body, a repeater is connected to the entertainment device main body, and operation terminals can be multiply connected simultaneously to this repeater. If such a repeater is used, multiple operation terminals can be connected to a single repeater, which confers the advantage that game diversification can be done, with multiple persons playing a game with the entertainment device.
But in an entertainment device in which multiple operation terminals can be connected to the device main body simultaneously through such a repeater, heretofore an external memory device has been directly connected to the device main body. Therefore there is the problem that if the individual data of each operation terminal is to be stored in the external memory device, it is necessary to partition the memory region of the external memory device and record the individual data in each memory region, and reconnect the external memory device to each operation terminal and record it, and the external memory device must be reinserted for each operation terminal that is unable to secure enough memory region.
Thus technology has been proposed that provides alleviation of the complicated nature of reinserting external memory devices and secures a memory region for each operation terminal, by providing on the repeater a number of external memory device connections that correspond to the operation terminals to be connected and connecting external memory devices corresponding to the number of operation terminals to be connected to these external memory device connections (see unexamined patent H8-191951 [1996]).
But with the above-disclosed prior art technology, the entertainment device main body and repeater are connected by one communication system. With signals input to the repeater through this communication system, it must first be decided within the repeater whether a signal is for an operation terminal or for an external memory device, then the signal is output to an operation terminal or an external memory device, and this composition entails the problem that it takes time for this communication.
In particular, with the faster speed of central processing devices in recent years, there is a need for a repeater in which high-speed communication can be performed with the entertainment device main body and which is simple to connect to the device main body. The purpose of this invention is to provide a repeater that ensures high-speed communication between the electronic device main body and the operation terminal or external memory device, and which is simple to connect to the electronic device main body.
A repeater is provided with multiple operation terminal connections to which operation terminals are connected, multiple external memory device connections that are set to correspond to the operation terminal connections and to which external memory devices are connected, and a main body connection terminal to be connected to an electronic device main body, and that makes communication possible between the connected operation terminals and external memory devices and said electronic device main body. Communication between the repeater and the electronic device main body is done by independent operation terminal communication system and external memory device communication system, and said main body connection terminal is constituted by the integration of an operation terminal communication terminal that constitutes said operation terminal communication system and an external memory device communication terminal that constitutes said external memory device communication system. The operation terminal communication system and external memory device communication system are constituted independently, so signal input and output can be done separately between the electronic device main body and operation terminals and external memory devices, and high-speed communication can be realized via the repeater between the operation terminals or external memory devices and the electronic device main body.